I like to chew ice. Crushed ice preferably, but any type will suffice. It’s a habit — a bad one, some say. But I still chew ice.
It drives my kids crazy, and they continually ask me to stop. My friends in the dental industry tell me to knock it off, too. My wife, Jolene, is more patient with me, except for that childbirth incident. When our daughter, Sara, was in the early stages of entering this world, I wandered over to the soda machine in the hospital where they also had this wonderful, crushed ice. I came back to the delivery room, made a few crunches and was told by Jolene to “stop (expletive) chewing that (expletive) ice!” Lamaze class didn’t teach me how to respond. I stopped chewing ice for the moment, but the addiction returned — and I blame it on Frederic Tudor, the “Ice King.”
Frederic and his brother, William, envisioned a need for something people in the early 1800s didn’t realize they needed: ice. The brothers devised a plan to ship ice from their home state of New England to the Caribbean. They were confident once people tried it, they would not want to live without it. Despite strong efforts, their business plan failed. As such, William pulled out of the partnership. Frederic drummed up enough money to continue, but the ice industry simply wasn’t catching on. Frederic persisted, and his ice business turned a profit in 1810. After some modest ups and some devastating downs, Frederic eventually found consistent success after developing techniques to convince people they actually needed frozen water.
Frederic created this incredible demand in many southern U.S. cities, and even Havana, but like any new business, he had to find ways to continually improve. He soon enlisted help to devise a way to cut ice into large grids and float them downstream where a conveyor belt would lift the blocks from the water and carry them up to icehouses.
The ice industry was growing, but it was still a slippery slope. Only one-tenth of the ice made it to sale, and operations were unsafe. Despite these problems, ice became more and more popular in America and abroad. As such, Frederic Tudor died in 1864 as a wealthy man.
At the turn of the 20th century, iceboxes were commonplace. Ironically, America’s dependence on ice also created a dependency on electric refrigerators and freezers, and, ultimately, the ice empire of the time collapsed.
That gives you a little something to chew on today.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-755-2115